Profile of Felipe De Leon, Jr.

FELIPE M. DE LEON, JR. is a Professor of Art Studies at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Q.C. where he teaches humanities, aesthetics, music theory and Philippine art and culture and Professorial Lecturer on courses in social transformation, such as Language and Social Transformation, Semiotics, Mythology and Institutional Dynamics, and Accompanying People's Movements, at the Asian Social Institute in Paco, Manila.

His experience as a cultural administrator/manager is extensive and widely recognized. He was Commissioner and Head of the Subcommission for the Arts of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Chairman of its National Committee for Music from 2004-07. He was also Chairman of the Gawad Sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (National Living Treasures Awards) from 1993-2007. He was mainly responsible for setting up and institutionalizing this award, which recognizes the masters of traditional arts in the country for the purpose of preservation and transmission of skills to the younger generation. He is presently the Chairman of the NCCA's Committee on Intangible Heritage.

He was a Commissioner of UNESCO Philippines (1999-2002) and Chairman of its Committee on Culture (2002). He was a Commissioner of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and Head of its Subcomission for Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts from 1992-98, during which Schools of Living Traditions (SLT's) where established all over the country. He is currently a Vice-President of the International Music Council, an affiliate agency of UNESCO.

He was Chairman of the Dept. of Humanities in U.P. Diliman from l976-82 and President of the National Association for Philippine Psychology from l985-86. It was during his chairmanship that the Department made a major shift from a Eurocentric to a World Art approach, with emphasis on Southeast Asian and Philippine arts. He is presently Chairman of the Division of Humanities, National Research Council of the Philippines, Chairman of the Kilusang Kayumanggi sa Ikasusulong ng Kultura (Brown Movement for Cultural Advancement) and Musical Director of Kasarinlan Philippine Music Ensemble.

Among his published works are Philippine Art and Literature, Volume III of the Filipino Nation Encyclopedia, published by Grolier International in l982, and On Art, Man and Nature: Selected Readings in the Humanities. He has written numerous articles on cultural issues, especially on cultural creativity and diversity, worldviews and values, and culture and development. He was the main author of the ASEAN Declaration for Cultural Heritage.

He obtained his A.B. Humanities, cum laude, from the University of the Philippines in l969. His graduate studies were in Fine Arts at the U.P. College of Fine Arts in 1973-74, composition and music theory at the U.P. College of Music from l974-75, musicological studies at the Madras Music Academy in India in l976-77, and Philippine studies at the U.P. College of Arts and Letters in l989-9l. He was the Gawad Chancellor Awardee for Extension Work of the University of the Philippines in Diliman for the year 2005 and the Bayani ng Alamat Awardee from the University of the Philippines in Manila in 2008. Awardee of the NRCP Achievement Award, given by the NRCP Governing Board during the 76th NRCP General Membership Assembly on March, 2009.